Caring for tomatoes after planting in the ground

Growing tomatoes in an ordinary summer cottage is not so easy – this culture is too capricious and very thermophilic. The best results in the cultivation of tomatoes are achieved by gardeners who have greenhouses and greenhouses at their disposal – here tomatoes feel much more comfortable than in open ground. But greenhouse cultivation of tomatoes has a lot of features and rules, non-compliance with which leads to the death of plants and reduced yields.

This article will be about how to plant tomatoes, and how to ensure competent care for tomatoes after planting in a greenhouse.

Planting a tomato in a greenhouse

There are no fundamental differences in how to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse or in open ground. The main thing at the initial stage is to choose or grow healthy and strong seedlings that can grow into a full-fledged bush and give a good harvest.

Signs of good tomato seedlings

High-quality tomato seedlings must meet a number of criteria:

1. Have sufficient height – plants normally reach 25-30 cm, suitable for planting in a greenhouse and strong bushes about 20 cm high.
2. Distinguished by bright green leaves, elastic plump stems, not be lethargic and not look sickly.
3. By the time the tomato is planted in the greenhouse, the seedlings should have at least 7-8 fully formed leaves.
4. It is good if the first ovary has already formed on the plants, but the buds should not open yet.
5. The roots of the tomato should not be damaged, show signs of decay. Those seedlings, the roots of which are firmly entangled with a clod of substrate, will take root perfectly in the greenhouse.

How to plant tomatoes in a greenhouse

Due to the peculiarities of the climate in this region, only one way of growing tomatoes is possible – through seedlings. In a greenhouse, plants are more protected from weather surprises and other external factors, and in Siberia, for example, only in protected ground can a really good crop of heat-loving crops be grown.

Greenhouses for tomatoes can be any: film, polycarbonate or glass. Only the timing of transplanting seedlings will depend on the material of the greenhouse. For example, a polycarbonate or glass greenhouse will warm up faster than a film greenhouse, so seedlings can be planted here earlier.

But the earliest dates for planting tomatoes in heated greenhouses – here vegetables can be grown at least all year round, providing them with the necessary temperature, humidity and lighting.

The stages of planting tomato seedlings in a greenhouse are as follows:

1. First you need to prepare the ground for the tomato. This should be done in the fall or after harvesting the last crop (if the greenhouse is heated). In any case, the land must rest for at least 30 days. If previous plantings hurt, the top layer of soil will have to be removed and replaced with a new one. When the soil in the greenhouse is already too depleted, it is completely replaced. The earth should be dug up, adding organic matter to it, and immediately before planting a tomato, when preparing holes for seedlings, mineral fertilizers must also be added – tomatoes love nutritious soils. The same land is perfect for cucumbers, their plantings are often combined with tomatoes in the same greenhouse. It’s good if siderats were planted before growing vegetables in a greenhouse, these crops help to saturate the soil with the necessary components and loosen it.
2. Immediately before planting tomatoes, you need to make beds, the depth of the grooves should be about 10-15 cm, and the distance between them depends on the tomato variety. The earth in the beds should be watered with a disinfectant, like copper sulfate or potassium permanganate.
3. Tomato seedlings must be transferred to the greenhouse along with an earthen clod, so they do it carefully, trying not to damage the roots and not shake the entire substrate.
4. Before planting a tomato, water at room temperature is poured into each hole, they try to plant the seedlings until the water is completely absorbed into the soil – this will allow the roots to completely straighten out, so there will be no voids between the roots of the tomatoes.
5. You need to deepen the tomatoes into the ground by cotyledon leaves. But, if the seedlings are too stretched, it can be deepened more, it is best to tilt the plants at an angle of 45 degrees.

The planting of tomato seedlings in the greenhouse is over, now it remains only to properly care for the plants in order to get a rich harvest.

The planting pattern for different varieties of tomato may differ due to their different heights and branching, as follows:

• indeterminate tomato varieties, which can reach two meters in height, are recommended to be grown in one stem, and the distance between tomato bushes should be left within 70-80 cm. About 60-70 cm of soil should be free between rows.
• Determinate varieties of tomatoes, as a rule, have compact bushes and do not grow more than 70 cm upwards. For normal development, such tomatoes need 30-40 cm between bushes and 40-50 cm between rows.

How to care for tomatoes after planting in a greenhouse

Tomatoes differ significantly from cucumbers and other garden crops – these vegetables need to be carefully looked after, without timely and proper care measures, tomatoes simply die.

Such capriciousness of a tomato is associated primarily with the thermophilicity of the culture, because initially tomatoes grew only in countries with a warm climate. temperatures are not very suitable for tender tomatoes – these vegetables love constant heat. Whereas in our country fluctuations in night and daytime temperatures can be very significant (in Siberia, for example, daytime 45-degree heat is often replaced by night cooling down to 10-11 degrees).

Due to such differences, the tomato can experience serious vegetation disorders that will lead to dropping leaves, the appearance of fungus or other infections, and other problems.

Therefore, the goal of caring for tomatoes in a greenhouse is to comply with the temperature and humidity regime, top dressing and protection from dangerous diseases or pests.

Watering

Planted tomato seedlings should be watered no earlier than 10 days after transplantation. The signal for the gardener will be the pulling of the tomatoes – if the plants have grown, they have already acclimatized enough and can be watered.

Earlier watering will lead to decay of the root system, which is not yet able to absorb nutrients, including water. If the weather outside is very hot and sunny, and the walls of the greenhouse are transparent, you can shade the drooping seedlings, but you should not water it ahead of time.

For irrigation of tomatoes, settled water is used, the temperature of which should correspond to the temperature of the earth in the greenhouse – so the seedlings will not experience stress with each watering.

Water should not fall on the stems and leaves of the tomato, since in the greenhouse for these plants the risk of infection with rot or late blight is already too high, and high humidity further increases the likelihood of problems. It is ideal to water tomatoes from a watering can with a long spout or use a drip irrigation system for irrigation.

First, about 5 liters of water should fall on each square meter of the greenhouse, during the flowering period the amount of water gradually increases to 12 liters, and in extreme heat and at the fruit ripening stage, tomatoes already need at least 15 liters per square meter of land.

It is best to water the tomatoes in the early morning or evening, when the heat subsides. If the rays of the sun fall through a drop of water on the leaves or fruits of a tomato, the plant will certainly burn.

Ventilation

For tomatoes, high humidity is detrimental, so an important component of quality care for them is the ventilation of the greenhouse. Drops usually accumulate on the walls of the greenhouse – condensate that appears due to the temperature difference inside and outside the greenhouse.

Even the ventilation of the greenhouse is necessary to regulate the temperature regime. The greenhouse should not be hotter than 30 degrees, as the temperature rises, the tomatoes begin to drop flowers and ovaries, which leads to their death. At night, the temperature in the greenhouse should be at least 16 degrees, and during the day, 22-25 degrees is considered the optimal value.

In spring, the greenhouse is ventilated during the day, when it is warm enough outside. The vents need to be opened slightly, do this several times a day for a short period of time. In summer, the greenhouse can be open at least the whole day, the main thing is to prevent the heat.

With such an assistant, even those summer residents who visit their plots only on weekends will be able to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse.

Pollination

Modern tomato varieties for greenhouses almost always belong to the group of self-pollinated plants. But even such crops need wind, a minimum number of insects, or human help.

There are several ways to help tomatoes in this case:

• some bring hives with bees into the greenhouse with tomatoes, but this method is only suitable for those who have these bees. This option is also not suitable for small greenhouses – the hive simply does not fit there.
• You can attract insects to tomatoes with fragrant and bright flowers. Such plants are planted mixed with cucumbers and tomatoes, or pots with flowering crops are brought in only at the stage of flowering vegetables.
• Drafts also contribute to the transfer of pollen from one plant to another. Tomatoes are not very afraid of drafts, so it is quite possible to open the windows on opposite walls of the greenhouse.
• A person can also carry pollen from tomatoes. To do this, you need a brush with natural bristles. With this tool, the stamens of one plant are first touched, then the pollen is transferred to other tomatoes.

In order for the pollination process to be possible, the pollen on tomato flowers must be dry and crumbly, and for this it is necessary to observe the correct temperature and humidity conditions in the greenhouse.

Shrub formation

The formation of a cucumber, tomato or any other bush is necessary first of all in order to increase the yield of a vegetable crop. After all, if the shoots are not thinned out, the plant will grow and all its forces will be spent on feeding the green mass and roots, while there will be nothing left for the fruits.

Remove shoots from a tomato begin a week after planting seedlings in a greenhouse. Moreover, tall varieties, in addition to pinching, need to be tied up – for this, pegs are driven in even at the stage of planting tomatoes in the ground.

Tall varieties of tomatoes, as a rule, are grown in greenhouses in one stem. To do this, you need to leave only the very first, lower process, and remove all the rest until their length reaches 7 cm. When 7-8 ovaries form on the bush, you need to pinch its top – now all the forces of the plant will go to fruit ripening.

Low-growing tomatoes can be grown in two or three stems. Leave the lower branches, all subsequent processes are simply removed. Leave the most powerful and strong stepchildren.

Food

It is necessary to feed tomatoes regularly and plentifully – this culture is very fond of fertilizers. But an excess of recharge has a bad effect on the final result – the quality and quantity of the crop. Therefore, you need to follow the measure and adhere to a certain schedule:

1. The first time the tomatoes are fed 2-3 weeks after the seedlings are transferred to the greenhouse. To do this, you can use a complex fertilizer in combination with a mineral supplement. Subsequent top dressing is best done only with organic fertilizers, since the fruits of tomatoes accumulate nitrates from mineral complexes well. So, half a kilogram of mullein and a tablespoon of nitrophoska are bred in a bucket of water. With this composition, tomato bushes are watered.
2. After another 10-14 days, tomatoes can be fertilized with a solution of bird droppings. In a bucket (10 liters) you need to dissolve the fertilizer, based on a ratio of 1:15.
3. The third time the tomatoes need to be fed at the stage of fruit ripening. To do this, use a solution of mullein – a ratio of 1:10.

All fertilizers can only be applied under watered tomatoes, otherwise there is a high probability of burning the plants.

Disease control

For a tomato, pests are not as terrible as various viruses and fungal infections. The task of the gardener is to ensure the prevention of tomatoes and to recognize the problem at an early stage, to begin to deal with it.

Evidence that the tomatoes are sick will be their appearance:

1. If the plant is losing leaves and flowers, it either lacks moisture or the tomato is too hot.
2. Curling of tomato leaves may indicate a lack of moisture. However, this is not the only reason, a more dangerous factor is infection. In this case (if watering did not help, and the leaves on the bushes remained twisted), the tomato bush must be urgently pulled out and burned so that the infection does not spread to healthy plants.
3. If the summer resident sees that the tomatoes have stopped growing, develop poorly, do not form ovaries – this is a consequence of improper feeding. Depending on the ongoing agricultural technology, either the tomatoes lack microelements for proper development, or there is an excess of nitrogenous fertilizers. The situation will be corrected by adjusting the feeding schedule.
4. When the fruits do not ripen, there may be too many of them on one bush, and the plant simply does not have enough strength. This is not so scary – unripe tomatoes are plucked and placed in a place well lit by the sun, here the fruits will fully ripen in a few days.
5. Spots on plants and fruits may indicate infection with late blight or another fungal disease. It will not work to stop such a disease, but you can try to slow down its development. To do this, tomato bushes are irrigated with Fitosporin solution, diluting it in water in a ratio of 1:10. Processing should be done every 10 days. In addition, the gardener must monitor the temperature and humidity in the greenhouse, ensure that the tomatoes are properly ventilated.
6. Blossom rot manifests itself in the blackening of the lower part of the fruit and the defeat of the leaves. It is simple to deal with the problem – you need to cut off the lower leaves in contact with the ground, and pollinate the entire bush with wood ash.

Every farmer knows that it is quite difficult to deal with tomato problems, it is much easier to prevent them. One of the preventive measures can be called, for example, mulching the ground between tomatoes in a greenhouse to prevent contact of the leaves with the soil, as well as to make watering less frequent.

Results

Growing a tomato is very different from growing cucumbers, for example. This is a more thermophilic and complex culture, for which proper care is very important. Only by providing competent watering, top dressing, humidity and temperature conditions, you can count on getting a good harvest of tomatoes.